Let’s get something out of the way: we think the first Gilmore column was utterly tasteless. It’s unnecessary to exploit the deaths of people to advance a political agenda about whether First Nations people should live in their remote communities, and Gilmore could have made his point without it. And while we’re at it, maybe in a column that uses as its springboard a national tragedy related to gun violence, Gilmore could leave out blithe references to sending Indigenous communities backhoes to dig their own graves.

In the first column, Gilmore says, of La Loche and in similar Indigenous communities across the north, “[y]ou can keep going until eventually you have stop in exhaustion and admit the north itself is violent and has been forever.” To which we say: you may be exhausted, Mr. Gilmore, but we’re just getting started. And we admit no such thing.

The startling reduction of the massive tapestry of lived experience and social realities of the north to violence (forever) gives Gilmore the plank he needs to once again suggest that “we” (by which he presumably means non-Indigenous Canadians) should encourage Indigenous peoples to get “integrated into one of the world’s healthiest, safest, most rewarding societies” – which is to say, the society one finds in our cities. This idea isn’t new. It’s as old as colonialism itself. Here’s a fun test: read the following, and tell us who wrote it and when:

“It is much better for an Indigenous person to be a member of the Canadian nationality, admitted on equal terms to all the privileges of Canadian citizenship, sharing the advantages of Canadian protection, and the dignity and prestige of Canadian power — than to sulk on his own rocks, the half-savage relic of past times, revolving in his own little mental orbit, without participation or interest in the general movement of the world.”

To be clear, we don’t lay all this at the feet of Mr. Gilmore. His argument gives at least some attention to cultural continuity, with his suggestions of annual visits to reserves, among others. That’s all to the good, but presumes we can sever culture and well-being from being on the land. However, we know that culture, well-being and the land are, to Indigenous peoples, often inseparable.

In the second column, Gilmore opines that “for Indigenous families living on reserves, the single most effective thing they can do to improve their health, education, safety, and income is to leave. And if they make this choice, we have a moral obligation to give them at the very least the same support we provide refugees.” Equal opportunity sure is hard to argue with. But why should it only be delivered in cities, and not on reserves or in the rural communities where many Indigenous peoples actually live? Surely “our” moral obligations to Indigenous peoples don’t end at the city limits.

To our minds, the notion of offering help only when Indigenous peoples go where they ought to go echoes the bygone policy approach of Sir. John A. Macdonald, who incentivised Indigenous mobility to the state’s preferred location (at that time, the reserves) by providing food rations only to those who took up the relocation, as set out exhaustively in James Daschuk’s book Clearing the Plains.

Equal access to education, housing, health care, and mental health services is a good start. But let’s take this good start and apply it to where Indigenous communities are located. The policy option of equal opportunity on reserve hasn’t even been attempted by federal or provincial governments in any Indigenous communities, as was made abundantly clear in the recent Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision of First Nations Child and Family Caring Society et al v. Canada. In that decision, the tribunal held that First Nations children are being systemically discriminated against because of dramatic underfunding of child and family services on reserve.

The policy option of equal opportunity on reserve (which we would describe as the “legal obligation” of a fundamental human right, or “the absence of widespread discrimination by the state,” rather than a “moral obligation”) is not one Gilmore, or any other proponent of the “move to the cities” solution has adequately grappled with, as far as we have seen. The inequality of opportunity, in funding terms, spans other service areas such as education, infrastructure, health care and housing. Where are the calls to fix that?

The “move to the cities” proponents also seem to be singling out Indigenous peoples as the only people whose freedom to live anywhere in this country should be undermined by “incentives” to live elsewhere. No one says that refugees or immigrants cannot live in rural or “remote” areas if they choose, or that they should be incentivized to live in cities. No one seriously proposes that we incentivize the people of Windsor or rural New Brunswick to move to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. In fact, our Constitution enshrines the right of less wealthy, predominantly rural provinces to receive equalization payments from other provinces. Regional fairness is a fundamental Canadian value. We respect the choices people make about where they want to live, and we appreciate the different cultures, histories, and traditions that are often intimately tied to those choices.

Lastly, we can’t help but be a bit glib ourselves. We’ll agree that Gilmore is partially onto something. We are quite confident that Gilmore’s challenge would be taken up by many Indigenous nations whose citizens would love to live in the cities, because that’s where they are from. Canada’s cities were, after all, appropriated by settlers precisely because they were good places to live. They are often close to water, they can sustain a lot of people, often on abundant high ground. In which case the solution probably lies in giving Vancouver back the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh, Toronto back to the Mississaugas of the New Credit, Ottawa to the Algonquin, and so on, from coast to coast to coast. Then we could implement the policy of providing superior access to services only in cities. But we suspect that’s not what the “move to the cities” folks want.

Let’s get on with hashing out some fresh ideas. Proposals that incentivize moves to particular locations that “we” think will work better for Indigenous peoples at any given time don’t contribute anything new to the conversation.

Maggie Wente, Bryce Edwards and Michael McClurg practise law at Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP, a law firm serving Indigenous clients with offices in Toronto and Yellowknife

‘We don’t need one more ride on the merry-go-round’: Time for fresh ideas

You write “Equal access to education, housing, health care, and mental health services is a good start. But let’s take this good start and apply it to where Indigenous communities are located.” Which sounds a lot like suggesting the city should move to the reserve.

While I don’t think that abandoning the North and moving to Vancouver is the solution, I completely agree that there should be encouragement to at least see beyond your own backyard. Not just for reserves, or the North, or people in cities. Everyone should get a chance to live somewhere different before they put down roots. I grew up in a small town, and hated it. Fortunately, my siblings and I had the opportunities and support to move somewhere else and see different lives.

The result is my brother wanted to move back to the small town, my sister loves Vancouver and I’m leaning towards Vancouver Island. And we are all better for having made an informed decision.

This unhelpful approach of trying to shout down ideas you don’t like with smears rather than reason and evidence, has really grown far too common.

This, the latest in lazy drivel on the matter, declares Gilmore’s column “utterly tasteless” and dismisses it as “doubling down on conclusions, based on statistics.” Wow. Remarkably, it now seems for the perpetually-offended, that basing ideas on statistics is “tasteless.” I imagine it would only heighten outrage to call out that Gilmore formed his opinion through considering evidence and data.

This ridiculous response by Maggie Wente, Michael McClurg and Bryce Edwards is sodden with implicit accusations of paternalism and bigotry, and baseless assumptions of dishonest intentions. It’s a disgraceful effort.

Rather than engaging with Gilmore’s efforts to find a solution to a terrible human tragedy, these three assume the worst and launch into attack mode: “It’s unnecessary to exploit the deaths of people to advance a political agenda.” What an accusation. At least their evidence for such an outrageous claim was intriguing—oh, wait … they didn’t offer any. That’s okay though, for the perpetually-offended, when you disagree with someone’s idea you just smear them.

The disagreement here boils largely down to the claim that remote northern communities have always been violent. Gilmore makes the claim based on some evidence (journals of early explorers and data on remote communities worldwide), and also on logic. It’s not a wild leap to imagine a concept of remote communities that are isolated economically and socially, with little economic opportunity, are likely to become or remain desperate and violent.

Gilmore has not offered a definitive case, but he has offered a reasonable one. Wente, McClurg and Edwards refuse to accept his claim. Though they reject the claim without actually providing any evidence of their own. They simply reject it. For them it’s enough to simply call something they don’t like “tasteless” or invoke colonialism or hint at racism.

In fact the only “stat” the trio is willing to put forth is that urban-dwelling-indigenous people still lag behind urban-dwelling-non-indigenous people. So, they then proclaim, it can’t be that moving to the cities is the only possible solution. Unfortunately, nobody is actually arguing it is. What Gilmore is arguing, is that it is one possible solution.

And by the way, if urban-dwelling-indigenous people lag behind urban-dwelling-non-indigenous people, than that is a problem to solve. It does not cancel out the fact urban-dwelling-indigenous people do better than rural-dwelling-indigenous people.

The trio also complained that: “The ‘move to the cities’ proponents also seem to be singling out Indigenous peoples as the only people whose freedom to live anywhere in this country should be undermined by ‘incentives’ to live elsewhere.”

Really? What of Alberta homeowners who were given “incentives” to relocate from rural flood-prone areas? The justification being to save taxpayer money for too frequent compensation. What of the BC government’s reduction of ferry service to island and costal communities? To truly avoid the mistakes of racism, you actually have to remove the lens of racial differences and just see “people.” La Loche was a human tragedy, not just an indigenous one.

The bottom line is, if you have another alternative, propose it. If you have evidence that another proposed solution isn’t optimal, present it. But there is no reason to assume ill intention, nor to insinuate bigotry or other such nonsense.

Gilmore’s column was thoughtful, well-considered and reasonably evidence based. Certainly not a “case-closed” but a conversation starter. I suggest Wente, McClung and Edwards try the same. It’s important to have the conversation, not to shut it down.

You cannot go against the “native industry” and remain unscathed, as Gilmore has shown. What the above article never mentions however; or frankly, even considers important, is that it is the people who DON”T live on reserves who are stuck footing the bill; in perpetuity apparently.

If you want to live in the middle of nowhere…great. We won’t bug you. But you are on your own.

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